The Temple of Nobility
by Blue Mistfall
Summary: The Second Doctor and Jamie are given a task of finding a missing girl. The investigation leads them to medieval English village, the inhabitants of which know about things that will appear only in several hundred years. And what is the building which no one dares to come close to, no words about entering?
1. Future Time

**A/N: This fic is based on stories Smith & McCrimmon Investigative Services, Ltd. and Return to the Home by the Sea by Crystal Rose of Pollux (read them, they're just awesome!). The basis is that the Second Doctor and Jamie hold an investigative agency in New York City during working for Timelords (Season 6B).**

**And also I'd like to thank Fezzes on 221b for the kind words. It was partly to them that I started it. **

**Please tell me what you think!**

* * *

><p>Sometimes days pass one after one, so anybody could get confused even with dates, because yesterday, today and tomorrow create one single line which doesn't seem to be divided. But when life decides to give you trials, expect anything - it may be tougher than any crooked imagination. Expect the unexpected. And it took place this time as well.<p>

The start was quite usual for those who knew. At first the office in New York City, the door of which was labelled _Smith & McCrimmon Investigative Services, Ltd. _and which had been rented for some decades (and those who had rented it never seemed to grow old, but this was noticed only by one or two persons, who preferred not getting into trouble or get the reputation of madmen) came to life - wooshing sounds filled it, and when they calmed down, there was a click of the key in the lock. From the inside!

"I suppose this time there could be something worth attention, otherwise the TARDIS coordinate settings wouldn't have been blocked this way". A little man with a mop of black hair (hardly ever touched by a comb) glanced into the corridor, which was empty. "What I can't stand is..."

"Narrowing the way down". His pal, a much younger man in a black turtleneck sweater and a genuine red kilt, rolled his eyes. "Rambling again, aye, Doctor?"

"Yes. Rambling. Sorry, Jamie. You know that I can't stand..."

Another sound followed. If the previous one sounded both like heavy breathing, engines working and tree leaves rustling (all together and multiplied by one thousand), this was most similar to the strike of lightning. Light steps echoed through the corridor, and a boy of about seven or eight entered the office.

At first the Doctor and Jamie were surprised. One: the kids were usually not allowed to walk around deep at night, and this kid didn't seem lost - on the contrary, he had a really knowing look. Two: as far as the TARDIS database had suggested, the year was 1960, and the boy's clothing was at least 2000s fashion. Three: who would've sent a child to a detective agency?.. However, the Doctor quickly took the initiative.

"Welcome to Smith and McCrimmon Investigative Services, Limited", he started. "I am Doctor Smith, and this is my helper Mr. McCrimmon. How may we be of service?"

"My name is Lionel Temple. The reason I'm here is that my older sister has gone missing", the boy said. "I've read that you investigate strange cases. Is that true?"

"Yes, we do", the Doctor nodded. "What exactly do you find strange, Lionel?"

"She has literally dissolved in thin air", Lionel explained. "And all her belongings like cell phone and vortex manipulator has been left home. She would have never left without them".

"Vortex manipulator?" Jamie echoed.

"I guess that you should be familiar with the principles of time travelling if you solved so many riddles connected with it". Lionel wasn't asking, he was sure about what he was talking.

"You mean that you came from the future?" the Doctor pointed out.

"Yes. Year 2018", Lionel nodded. "I though you would have some craft, so I could give you the coordinates, and you could help me".

* * *

><p>Though this was already really odd (as far as the Doctor knew, Earthlings mastered time travelling not earlier than year 2100), things began getting curiouser and curiouser. Lionel wasn't astonished when he learned that the TARDIS was bigger on the inside - he just mentioned that "things like these are already been worked out in the physical labs, and yours is not too balanced". Moreover, he joined his vortex manipulator (which looked like a huge leather bracelet on his wrist) with the TARDIS console and entered all the needed settings from the first try.<p>

However, this was when the futuristic details were over. The sight of evening London, year 2018 wasn't seemingly differed from that to which the Doctor was used. But this was only at first sight. From time to time adults and children walking around were vanishing, and no one seemed surprised by it. And everybody, excluding littlest children, had leather bracelets on their left wrists.

When the Doctor and Jamie were invited to Lionel's house (Mr. Temple was glad that there would be help, while Mrs. Temple was far from happy), they were met by the same sight. Ordinary at first, but what then?

"She was last seen in our room", Lionel explained, leading them upstairs. "I haven't touched any of her belongings".

The Doctor took the vortex manipulator (already dusted - Lionel was telling the truth about 'not touching') from the bed-table, turned it on and found the recording of the latest travel. "Harrods". Nothing special.

"Do you all have them?" he asked.

"Yes. But don't worry, the laws about time travelling are very strict, and no one dares to break them", Lionel assured.

"And why did you ask us for help if your parents have these manipulators as well?" Jamie wondered.

"Mother can't stand this, and father didn't believe that you could help find my sister. I don't believe she would've left home. She doesn't even go shopping without her cell phone!"

* * *

><p>"Well, what will you say, Jamie?" the Doctor asked, having closed the TARDIS doors behind them.<p>

"I'm not as smart as you, but I thought that 2018 is too early for time travelling. And the bairn said about laws".

"That means that it's serious. Very, very serious".

"And how are we going to search for the wee lass? We have nothing except the not so right 2018".

"Jamie, we do have a hint", the Doctor stated. "The DNA pattern. Lionel and the one for whom we search are one flesh and blood, so... we just have to search for the similar DNA pattern. All I needed was a piece of him. I wanted to find a piece of her, but it was so clean there... not a hair on the comb. And besides, if time travelling is so developed in 2018, I'm almost certain that young Miss Temple was kidnapped and taken either back or forward in time".

"How do you know?"

"Look". The TARDIS scanner showed a sight of Earth surrounded by artificial satellites. "There are sixteen of them which limit the scope of time travelling. I guess it's narrowed down to some days, if they are sensible... though you and me know that even a few hours - what am I talking about, minutes! - can change the whole course of history". The TARDIS beeped and chirped. "I just knew it. One of those satellites was broken some days ago, and I guess it was not an accident. Someone was truly eager to kidnap Miss Temple".

"That makes sense", Jamie mused. "But who would need her? And why? Her room is not a lab in which some panacea stuff or else could be developed".

"This is why we are going to track the DNA pattern down". The Doctor placed a thick black hair which curled up in a circle onto the TARDIS panel. "Waiting some minutes, and..." His eyes suddenly widened until they occupied half of his face. "No, no, no. That's not even possible! I agree that the course of history could've been changed, but not till this limit!"

"What?.."

"I guess we have more than just a kidnapped girl to seek for".


	2. Past Time

The TARDIS scanner showed an image of DNA spiral.

"What's that? Aye, recalled... What's so special about it? It's just a human DNA". Jamie was secretly hoping that he didn't mix up the clever scientific names again.

"Human. With a makeweight". The Doctor traced his finger along the image, and Jamie saw that something was definitely wrong with this double spiral. Actually it wasn't double, it was triple - one of its halves had a "companion": a hardly seen third spiral close to it, so it didn't cross with the single spiral. "Our kid client is a hybrid. And not just a hybrid. Mostly human, but partly Timelord".

"Timelord? Like you? That's like... two species in one?"

"Exactly. Do you know what that means?"

"His older sister is a hybrid as well".

"And? Didn't it seem strange to you that Lionel mentioned laws regulating limits of time travelling, but nevertheless they didn't prevent him from finding us in 1960? Wait, let me check... he left the coordinates, and according to them..."

After some minutes of entering a multitude of symbols and numbers into the TARDIS database, the Doctor nodded at the sight of result:

"Lionel Sean Temple. Date: October 21st, 2018. Permission for time travel to 1960: accomplished. Reason: kidnapping... That's clear at least. And another thing: if his older sister is human-Timelord, she may be the reason of such a sudden change of history".

"But does she know about her nature?" Jamie asked.

"That's a great question, and we're going to find this out soon".

* * *

><p>The DNA pattern worked perfectly well, but this was the last good thing which took place for now.<p>

"Could've brought us to Himalayas again", Jamie grumbled, having walked out of the TARDIS. The sight of a snow-clad medieval English village was the next which opened in front of him, before a storm of snowflakes half-closed the sight.

"We were given a request, Jamie", the Doctor replied. "Hmm... That's odd".

"What's odd?"

"Look more attentively. This is Middle Ages, did you forget? It's winter. So why is no one lighting fire? See now? There's no smoke out of any chimney. Let's try and find out the reason".

But this appeared to be the next problem. The inhabitants of the village appeared to be not too friendly. The Doctor and Jamie had to knock at the doors of at least ten houses before they were let inside.

"There haven't been any travellers in here since autumn". This was the first phrase which sounded after the duo was allowed to enter. "What if they are here to..."

"We are not", the Doctor assured, shaking his famous extremely furry coat off. "I am the Doctor, and that's Jamie. We were on our way to London, but we got lost, wandered all night in snowstorm and finally got here".

"My name is Gerald", the host replied. "All right, you may stay here until the snowfall is over".

The Doctor grinned to himself. Task one completed. Now it was about learning information from the natives... This was not as easy. Both Gerald and his wife were eager to have a talk (it was as if they haven't spoken to anybody else for weeks, but that was natural: perhaps they haven't seen anyone apart from their neighbors for a while) about anything but what was needed, so the Doctor had to change the subject of the talk very delicately for them not to suspect anything. As about the interior, it was a quite ordinary village house, except for one little moment - the lack of fire in the fireplace, while no anachronistic devices were to be seen.

Once or twice Gerald caught the Doctor on telling something wrong (Jamie was keeping quiet, attempting to spot something out-of-time), but every time the Doctor firmly replied:

"This is gossip. You can hear anything from those who haven't seen but heard".

Not less than half an hour passed before the level of trust was enough to finally turn the talk to the needed subject.

"Now we do not need to use wood at all". It was Gerald's wife who accepted it first. "Our new village head made it possible".

"New village head? Who is it?" the Doctor asked.

"At first no one trusted that man, but now we are proud to have a wizard as our leader", Gerald added and pointed at a small wooden box fixed to the wall over the fireplace. "Since we have it, warmth never leaves our house. And everybody has such ones".

"And... what's his name?"

"Frey Laureus", Gerald replied.

"May I?" The Doctor walked closer to the box and looked at it from all sides. Nothing too strange, just a wooden container sized as a standard shoe box. It appeared to be warm to touch - warmer than other wooden surfaces here. "Let me guess: your neighbors didn't let us in because..."

"They do not understand that no one is able to learn the secret", Gerald nodded. "Mr. Laureus made it so that no one apart from himself knows the core of this wizardry".

"I thought wizardry was against faith", Jamie put in. "I mean, witches and wizards always go to hell".

"Oh, this wizardry is not against God, on the contrary".

"How is it so?"

But this was the extra question - Gerald made it clear that he wouldn't answer it.

* * *

><p>"Not too much. A new village head, aye? And a wizard apart from that. Sure we cannot just break into his house and..."<p>

"Jamie, we achieved the needed information. If every house has such block of energy - this is it, I sense it, the box was filled with pure energy, not with any gears or else - this means there should be the center somewhere nearby. What did Gerald say? Wizardry which is not against faith... Perhaps that is in the village church?"

The following investigation there brought no results. It was empty, so the Doctor and Jamie searched all through it, but there were no tracks of "innovations". And there were no blocks of energy as well.

"Hey! Why are you two here?"

"I-it's all right, we're no thieves". The Doctor raised his hands in a sign of peace when a man all in black walked from behind the altar. "We are travellers. We got cold and..."

"No wonder that those hell-bowers didn't let you in", the man grumbled. "Since that Laureus appeared, evil has taken over them".

"Have you ever seen him in person?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes. He seduced everybody with his speeches of miracles, but he didn't perform any witchery by himself. I guess everybody would have gone to his temple if they were allowed to".

"Temple? Which temple?"

"He built what he calls the Temple of Nibility in one night", the man muttered. "But it is obviously the devil's nest. No one who went there ever returned".

"And it took place in autumn, am I right?" the Doctor pointed out.

"Yes".

After listening to some more grumbling about "losing true faith", the duo left the church.

"Well, at least now we have a point which we are to achieve. The Temple of Nobility, eh? Is it coincidence that the missing girl's surname is Temple?" the Doctor grinned.

"Honestly? No".

"Then off we go".


	3. Too Much Time

**A/N: Not too much here. But it'll be going on.**

**Note: the Doctor mentions that Jamie had been "influenced by Time Vortex". It's a reference to the story Prisms of No Color by Crystal Rose of Pollux. Check it out - you won't regret it!**

* * *

><p>"I wish there were cabs here", Jamie complained when the village was left behind. "Look at my knees, they are bright blue".<p>

The Doctor, paying almost no attention to these words, headed on in the probably-required direction. They had re-checked the location of the missing girl's DNA pattern in the TARDIS, but the time machine had refused to move any further, so now they had to rely only on their feet.

Pretty soon a completely new sight opened in front of them. It was a tall building on the top of the highest hill around, surrounded by a circle of snow pyramids, each nearly one-and-a-half meters high, their bottom parts touching. In fact, it was more of a castle than of a temple or something, but the strangest thing was that it had no doors. Some narrow windows high over the ground, and this was all.

"Now that's what is called the Temple of Nobility", the Doctor muttered. "Jamie! Where are you going? Stop!"

"Those are just snow piles... ouch!" Jamie jerked his hand away from the closest snow pyramid immediately after touching it - his fingertips were covered with blood now.

"Not just them. See?"

"What's in there? It bit me!" Jamie complained.

"Hold it". The Doctor pulled a ball of wires from his pocket, straightened a piece of wire and tentatively inserted it into the closest snow pyramid. There was a screeching sound, and the wire was twice shorter than at first. "See? A reliable protection. There's something highly omnivorous mixed in those figures. And I suspect that this 'something' is not going to let go things it had already tried".

"You mean me?"

"Yes. I guess if we don't touch those snow piles, we'll enter unharmed... and we'd better hurry. The snowfall isn't going to end as far as I see".

"Understood. So we'll just hop over them?"

"Right".

The Doctor's "leap of faith" was clumsy (no matter, in such coat!), but with the needed result, no disturbance. Jamie was less lucky: though his feet didn't touch the pyramids during the moment of flight, he ploughed the snow behind them with his nose in the end.

"And how are we going to enter? Fly?" he asked, standing up and shaking the snow off his clothes.

"That's a good idea..." the Doctor muttered. "Banal as it can sound, but I'm certain that there's a lot of traps and secrets here. Give me a couple of minutes".

For some minutes he was walking along the castle's walls, scanning every brick with the sonic screwdriver and murmuring. Finally he whistled in a satisfied way and waved to Jamie, having found a hidden entrance, which was masked by two walls, one of which was behind the other, so they formed a narrow path - so narrow that the Doctor got nearly stuck in the middle.

Inside the Temple of Nobility was even less similar that on the outside. Bare walls. Light was coming from the torches fixed on the walls, and those torches were burning with strange fire - golden white and not hot at all.

"So that's what inside those boxes", the Doctor concluded. "Small bits of Time Vortex mixed with pure energy emitted by a living creature".

"Why are you so sure about that?" Jamie asked.

"Put your fingers into the fire".

"What?!"

"Do it".

Jamie obeyed, expecting anything - though he knew that the Doctor wished hi nothing wrong, it remained eerie. But it turned out even eerier when the flames appeared not to be hot. Warm and slightly tickling.

"See... I mean - feel?"

"And why didn't you do it?" Jamie asked mockingly.

"Have you forgotten that we belong to different species? Yes, I remember how you got influenced by Time Vortex, but here your human nature protects you. If I touched it, I would've turned the alarm on..."

"How do you know?"

"It's a web", the Doctor explained. "The energy in torches forms a line, which leads to the center. And I am very very very very suspicious that this center is our lost girl... I just know it. I'm sure that Frey Laureus is around here somewhere as well".

Jamie wouldn't complain about the growing feeling of dread. Another thing worried him: there were less and less torches along the way, until the corridor got almost pitch black. Yeah, it was fine for the Doctor, he saw everything in any conditions...

"Jamie?"

"Oi?"

"The amount of time energy in here is growing".

"And what does that mean?"

"That means we're close".


	4. Out of Time

That was close indeed. After tracing the now-invisible signs for some more minutes, the Doctor and Jamie found themselves in a vast round hall, the atmosphere in which was strangely familiar, like a long-lost memory (no matter if it belonged to past or future). Above their heads there was a circle of torches burning with the same golden white "fire", and below, in the very center of the place, was some kind of an altar under a translucent hemisphere cover, which somehow was similar to a giant closed eye. Six metal beams began at this "eye", rising up to the walls so that their other ends touched the ring of torches, so this all looked like an enormous and phantasmagoric image of a star.

"The Temple of Nobility, huh?" the Doctor muttered and approached to the "eye". Upon closer observing the half-see-through walls of the cover indicated a small human-like creature lying inside. "There she is, Miss Temple..."

"Can't you just open this cover, get her out of here and..." Jamie's mouth snapped shut when the Doctor glared daggers at him - he understood that direct action wouldn't be the best option here. The Doctor sighed and went on in a calm voice, but this made the contents of his speech even sharper:

"Jamie, look around. Doesn't this place remind you of anything? Or you got so used that you do not notice it anymore?"

Jamie walked a small circle around the place, attempting to step soundlessly - the echo could play a nasty joke at them. Six beams, round shape, object in the center... The guess blazed in his head, and he covered his mouth with his hand, so the next word was a suppressed yelp, luckily not louder than whisper.

"TARDIS!"

"Exactly", the Doctor nodded. "Someone was trying to build a giant TARDIS, using our lost girl as the Eye of Harmony".

"As... what?"

"The main energy source in the TARDIS - any real and true TARDIS grown on Gallifrey - is the eternally fading star", the Doctor explained. "It's blocked in one single point of time".

"So here energy is simply drained from... from this girl?"

"I'm afraid so. And I guess I know why. Hybrids have always been curious creatures, partly because they could develop abilities that pure-bloods couldn't - combinations of both parts. Here it's the inborn time-related element plus human life energy... and not only that... If we just rip her out of there, it can cost a whole world".

"Hai?"

"The course of history was changed thanks to her", the Doctor continued, walking around the "altar". "Fine, not to her, but to that Frey Laureus man... Oh..."

"Doctor?"

"There's nothing more puzzling than an obvious fact. Or I'm just a bonehead! Any TARDIS would function only when symbiotically connected to a Timelord's biology, so... Frey Laureus! Gallifrey - Baccalaureus!"

"Bacca-what?!"

"It's a scientific title, as well as..."

"Master!" Jamie exclaimed. "Frey Laureus is the Master!"

"Absolutely his style... Do you remember the words of the villagers? No one who came here ever returned. And here goes the approval".

The Doctor pointed at the circle of torches, and Jamie spotted an oddity - all of them were "burning" with time energy, but there and here its color was out of the row. Sometimes sea green, lilac, scarlet streams dashed out of the background of golden white.

"See? That's all which remained from daredevils who came here. Everyone's life energy has a unique shade... Hey, hold on a second". The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the torches. "Jamie, can you watch out for danger? I have an idea. But I warn you: it's risky".

And it's me who doesn't know it, Jamie thought to himself and obeyed. Meanwhile, the Doctor sat down onto the floor and began digging in his bottomless pockets.

In about ten minutes Jamie began worrying against his will. It was too quiet, apart from the sound of glass clanking from the side where the Doctor was. And no matter how many times Jamie used the trick his father had taught him (it was going deaf to usual sounds and listening out to those which could be suspicious) - nothing worked. Only when the hissing sound broke the total silence, Jamie returned from his position.

Indeed, there was a human (okay, humanoid) girl of about ten supine on the altar underneath the cover. She was skinny and very pale (must've been because of power loss), which was increased by locks of straight, but thick jet-black hair covering her shoulders and half of her face, but pinkish shade began adding to it in two or three seconds. No wonder: she was wearing a well-worn robe, and it wasn't the best protection from the cold.

"Alive", the Doctor diagnosed. "No, don't touch her! Allow me..."

Another moment appeared in sight: long beige wires were attached to the girl's fingers and toes (they sometimes draw and paint mermaids or other mythical water beasts with such limbs). The Doctor set to work with accuracy and speed: he began de-attaching the wires from the girl's appendages and fixing tiny sparkling vials onto the empty tips one by one. And when the twentieth one was filled, the girl's eyes - as black as her hair - shot open.

"Ah!"

"Shhhhhh! Remain quiet, please!" the Doctor warned. But this didn't work.

"What? Where am I? What the heck is going on here?!" the girl demanded.

"I'll explain it later... When I say run, run".

"Why would I?"

"RUN!"

This didn't work, so Jamie decided to act straightly: he just grabbed her into his grasp and darted after the Doctor, trying not to pay attention to squeaking and yelling right over his ear:

"Where are you taking me, you stinker?! Let me go! NOW!"

Jamie only hoped that the Doctor had explanations for this all. And that they would come right on time.


	5. Too Little Time

The second kidnapping (this time fake) revealed its consequences almost immediately. If the way to the center of the Temple of Nobility was at first lighted and later dimmed, this time it was equally darkened. The situation with the sound was opposite as well: first silence, now high-pitched squeals echoing like insane.

"Where are you taking me?! Let me out! Or I..."

"Or you what?" Jamie snapped, attempting not to lose the sound of the Doctor's steps, now not running, but faster than casual walking. He didn't see the girl's face in the dark, but he would swear that now it was puzzled - really, what could she do against a grown-up strong man?

"No matter", the girl muttered. "It's obvious that you kidnapped me".

"It's unknown who kidnapped who", the Doctor's voice sounded from distance. "Just trust us..."

"Why should I?!"

"Because now you have no one else to rely on..."

Having hastily pushed themselves through the narrow patch between the walls which led to the outside, they stopped upon the unexpected sight. The snow pyramids circling the Temple of Nobility were now much closer to each other, though their size remained the same. The distance between them and the building was slower as a result, and moreover: the snow around them was of odd greyish shade.

"Whipper-snapper..." the Doctor mumbled. "Those snow flesh gobblers didn't lose time... No way, we'll have to run over. It's too far to jump".

"But it's just dirty snow". The girl's right brow arched.

"You'd better not imagined what will happen if that dirty snow gets you!" The Doctor examined the girl head-to-toe with his look and clocked his tongue upon the sight of her bare feet with curled toes. "Jamie, how many steps do you need to cross the dangerous area?"

"Five or six, I think, and with a jump", Jamie assumed, having observed the pyramids. "But..."

"I got it. Jumping isn't easy with such makeweight".

"I'm not a makeweight! I'm Erfin Wilma Temple!" the girl interfered.

"Stay here, Jamie". The Doctor almost didn't hear this interruption. "When I cross the line, you set off. You'll pass Jealous Urfin to me, and then... if it goes on without mistakes, all we need to do is get to the TARDIS as quickly as possible".

Within that, he scampered to the circle of pyramids and covered the dangerous area in three steps, but didn't avoid the consequences: his shoes looked rather torn after that. But that didn't seem to bother him.

"Come on, Jamie! Now!" he called.

Jamie hardly remembered how he crossed the patch infected with "snow flesh gobblers". One, two, three, pass, jump... and running again. Not only that: the "dirty snow" zone didn't lose time following them.

"Doctor! It's chasing us!" he yelped.

"This means we need to run faster!" the Doctor panted - he was carrying Erfin as if she weighed nothing. Perhaps Gallifreyans grew wings on their feet as well as humans, Jamie only thought.

* * *

><p>The TARDIS doors slammed shut. After that Jamie's feet refused to carry him on, while the Doctor found strength to let Erfin go, get to the console and jerk the take-off switch. And the girl didn't lose time in crawling into the farthest corner.<p>

Jamie's soles and toes were red and wrinkled, and heat was pulsing in them, not allowing to stand up. No wonder, after such run!

"I didn't see that coming", the Doctor confessed. "I guess whatever infected that snow was chasing us because of you, Jamie".

"Because of me?"

"Yes. They sensed you because you carelessly allowed them with your touch, and therefore began chasing you... Finny?" The Doctor stood up and, limping just a little bit, made his way to the girl. "Finny, my sweet, it's safe now".

"No, it's not. And I'm not Finny to you", the girl mumbled, staring at the floor. "Is this the end?"

"Who said about end?" the Doctor wondered. "We're going to get you home. Your brother asked us to do it".

"My bro?" Erfin raised her head, but didn't stand up. "Where did he find such crazy detectives?"

"You'd better ask WHEN he found us. In 1960s".

"Crazy, just as I said", Erfin shrugged. "Or desperate liars. 1960s? It's not Back to the Future to ya".

"Erfin, you need to tidy yourself up before going home". The Doctor reached out to her, but Erfin again didn't react from the start.

"What? Flying saucers have bathrooms?"

"It's not a flying saucer, it's called the TARDIS", the Doctor explained. "And there's not only one bathroom here".

"No. Insanity!" Erfin combed her hair with her fingers. "I swear that you ran into the blue box... and then such huge space... I must be nuts. Or you kidnapped me to get to some odd fair and send me as some exotic animal".

Jamie snorted, this time with laughter. But the Doctor didn't.

"Why do you think so, Erfin?"

"Well, this is obviously a spaceship". Erfin's voice was full of sureness instead of aggression. "And DARTIS is an alien word".

"TARDIS, Finny, TARDIS. And you're only half right. It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space".

"A very promising start. Did you say something about 1960s?"

"Hm... Tell me, Finny: have you ever heard of vortex manipulators?"

Erfin shook her head. The Doctor almost saw gears turning under her black mop in attempts to glue this word combination to a certain item, but uselessly.

"Doctor, that kid Lionel said that she had the one", Jamie recalled, having finally stood up. "And we saw it".

"I'm going to solve this riddle as soon as possible", the Doctor assured. "Come on, Finny, I'll show you where you can tidy yourself up".

"No watching. I broke the front teeth of those who spied me in school shower", Erfin said, having clenched her little sharp (and perhaps very firm) fists as an approval. "And I don't care about age".

* * *

><p>Tidying herself up and changing clothes obviously increased Erfin's mood - at least she was not as grumpy as before when she returned to the console room. The TARDIS must've helped her get the shortest way.<p>

"So, enlighten me". It was an almost-request with just a hint of demand. "Who are you and where did you kidnap me from?"

"I'm the Doctor". The Doctor, having finished entering his own search request in the TARDIS database, sat onto the huge wooden box (it was to be removed a long time ago, but here it worked well), and Erfin joined him not without a bit of reluctance. Meanwhile, Jamie was in one of the TARDIS distant rooms, taking care of his injured feet.

"Doctor? Doctor Who?"

"Just the Doctor".

"And your son? Is he... don't know... Reaper or something, if so?"

"You'd better said Piper", the Doctor chuckled. "He's not my son, just a good friend of mine. That's Jamie. Now let's talk about you. It was your brother requested us to find you... do you even have one?"

"Definitely", Erfin nodded. "Lionel Temple".

"And you were born in... 2008 or something?"

"Yes. Does that matter?"

"It does, Finny. What is the last thing you remember before you met us?"

Erfin scratched the back of her head:

"It was just a trip to Harrods..."

"Without any manipulators?"

"Feet only. I know there's plenty of gadgets, but I've never heard about whirlwind manipulators or else".

"Vortex manipulators. Nevertheless your brother used one to find us in the past. And you know why? There's a man. A very ambitious man, if you wish, a classic villain who searches for unusual ways of taking over everything. This time he decided to use you as his main resource. He brought you to Middle Ages, made you emit life energy and used it as the catalyser, which made time-travelling possible in your time. I replaced you with a short reserve of my own life energy, and when we left, the process was stopped, therefore history should restore itself as it originally was. You'll come back to the world which will be as you know it".

"Sounds like a sci-fi scenario". Erfin began playing with the edge of the coat she was now wearing. "But... why me? Why me and nobody else?"

"This is it. Finny, I don't know how is that possible, but you're only partly human".

"WHAT?!"

"No-no, wait! The other part is my race!"

Erfin eyed him for some seconds and, having not found anything to stick to, muttered:

"But you're human too".

"Yeah? Then listen... I mean, feel". Without a warning the Doctor grabbed Erfin's hands and pressed them to his chest on both sides. It took her half a minute to understand what was very wrong there.

"No", Erfin finally whispered. "That's... preposterous".

"Satisfied?"

"How do you know I am? I'm not going to be surprised anymore... But if what you say is true, then... Say, Doctor, if I am part like you, won't I... don't know... grow a second head or develop a taste for grass or needles?"

"Trust me, you won't. Your Timelord particle is about your energy, which can't be seen from the outside".

"Timelord? Phew, I'd better not asked. Something like that was just BEGGING for a place in such web!"

"And you were begging for real and true explanation. I gave it to you".

"Are you a mind-reader as well as two-hearter?" Erfin squinted.

"I didn't read your mind. You told me. You didn't swear when I called you Finny. More than once".

"Old cheater".

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The moment when the Doctor calls Erfin "Jealous Urfin" is a reference to the fairy tale Urfin Jus and His Wooden Soldiers (the name of the main character is sometimes translated as "Jealous Urfin" or "Cunning Urfin").**


	6. Right on Time

"Why aren't we going anywhere?" Jamie asked, having entered the console room right before the Doctor could've said something against the name 'old cheater'.

"We'll have to wait for a while. The TARDIS is blocked again. It's because of my energy being spent in that particular point of time and space. It's the maximum distance we could've gone to in order not to break the rebuilding of history".

"I would've thought that I'm sleeping and having a freaky dream if it wasn't... re-haaaa-lity..." Erfin's head was nodding, and her eyelids obviously went heavy.

"If you don't want to fall asleep unexpectedly for the next three days, find strength and follow me".

Erfin was half-hanging on the Doctor's arm when they reached the Zero Room - it was time for recharging sleep instead of draining kind of it.

"How d'ya find ways here? Geeky alien labyrinth, Doctor Two Hearts..." she mumbled.

"You're going to find the following even more geeky, if it works with you".

The girl smelled the air, as if her sight wasn't going to serve her any longer.

"Smells like roses".

"That means we're close".

"I thought you aliens were keen on technology and completely lost the remains of beauty sense". Erfin blinked and looked around - the Doctor and she reached the destination. "Zero Room, you say? Totally zero. And what now?"

"Now is when the giddy part begins. Stand in front of me, face to face... right. Now tear your right foot off the floor".

"Alien yoga much?" Erfin shrugged, but did as she was told.

"And the left one as well. Don't lower the right".

"You're crazy... Whoop!"

Erfin's black eyes fixed on her feet that now were not touching the floor. In fact, now her only communication with it was indirect - through the Doctor, who was holding her by both her hands.

"How?.."

"Local gravity. But it's not about that, my sweet. It comes to you naturally". The Doctor, not letting her go, walked over, having made her take a horizontal position. "There, Finny. Relax. Zero Room has a healing effect because it's isolated from the rest of the world".

"So you expect me to relax?" Erfin didn't realize that she wasn't moving her lips while her voice still sounded. Then her brows nearly reached her hairline. "What's that? I don't hear my voice!"

"That's because you don't speak, you think", the Doctor replied, thoroughly articulating.

"Are you going to hear everything from start to the end?!"

"Finny, Finny, I'm not going to hear anything unless you blab it out. Now I want you just to sleep. You need recharging. Don't you feel tired?"

Erfin gazed at her hands, still held by the Doctor.

"I hear whispering", she confessed, her voice half-fearing. "Is that okay when... when all thoughts are out like this?"

And truly, the Doctor heard whispering of a thousand voices. Young, old, mature, angered, calm, sad - all kinds of voices, but they all had the same source and core.

"Yes. Those are your subconscious voices. You're not a full Timelord, so you cannot control them very well, but I promise I won't listen".

"If you do, I'll make your Beatle hair change to billiard-ball style", Erfin replied without speaking and finally surrendered to her feeling of being tired.

* * *

><p>"But I don't get it. It's a locked circle", Jamie said after the Doctor closed the doors of the Zero Room. "The Master kidnaps Erfin and makes history change. Then her brother comes to past to find us, we get Erfin out of the wrong time and space and... then what? And that wee lad Lionel said that his sis was present when those manipulators were there... Ack, I might get a headache".<p>

"Let me check the data of the alternative history..." the Doctor muttered. "A-ha. Now when we have a direct DNA source..." Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap - his fingers danced over the keyboard. "Yes! There we go! Do you remember that there were sixteen satellites, Jamie?"

"Aye. One was broken".

"That's it. It was broken not only to distract from Erfin's time kidnapping, but to create her melting double as well".

"Melting double?"

"Mm-hmm. It's a kind of cloning. The double dissolves, but so slowly that no one mentions this, and is gone completely after being left alone. That explains why there was another Erfin... And we still have to return the original".

"Doctor... and what about the Master? Won't he find another way to twist history?"

"No. Remember, I told you that every living being's life energy has a unique shade? Erfin's was very very similar to mine, this is why I could replace her energy with a small bit of mine. And I guess that was not a coincidence... but I also guess that I shouldn't know that yet..."

"So without you or the wee lass he won't be able to adjust the fake TARDIS?"

"Exactly! He's going to stay there... We returned the point of time to its proper condition, and the energy blocks are going to become one of history riddles. But I still want to know one thing. Why did he call the fake TARDIS the Temple of Nobility?"

* * *

><p>"Clear. No one there".<p>

"Very well..." The Doctor opened the front door with his sonic screwdriver and entered the house which now contained nothing related to time-travelling, as well as the rest of the houses and their inhabitants.

"Why are we sneaking here like burglars?" Jamie whispered - he was carrying sleeping Erfin in his arms.

"Because, Jamie, no one here, including Lionel, knows us. The world in which he called for us never existed".

"But we remember it".

"Hush..."

The room shared by Temple siblings didn't change. Only the dusted vortex manipulator was missing. Jamie placed Erfin on her bed, and she sighed in her sleep.

"I wanna watch", he confessed. "Let's watch the wee lad find his sister".

The Doctor agreed and added that he had wanted to see it from the very start. They returned to the TARDIS and switched the small camera disguised as a button that the Doctor had left in Erfin's coat.

"A strange building called Temple of Nobility existed in Middle Ages", the Doctor whispered, the corners of his mouth crawling up at the sight of Lionel entering the room and freezing, stunned. "That's a fact. Humanity didn't master time-travelling until XXII century. That's a fact too. One of them cannot exist while the other does, and it was decided which".

"Aye, decided..."

"I'm not any Finny to ya!"

The following was from the screen - Erfin woke up when her brother glomped her.

"Finny?"

Erfin, still half-asleep, sat on her bed and cut off:

"I - am - Erfin - Temple! Or at least Noble. If you wish".

The Doctor and Jamie snorted with laughter. Temple and Noble were worth each other.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The end. Or beginning, or middle? Those timelines are so twisted...**


End file.
